With the end of the school year approaching, the Great Bend USD 428 Board of Education on Monday accepted the retirement of Brenda McCulley, a first-grade teacher at Riley Elementary School.
The personnel report also included three licensed appointments:
• Crystal Zink, Speech Language Pathologist at Barton County Special Services
• Maria Pasos, Teacher at Little Panthers Preschool
• Taylor Richter, Teacher of Physical Education at Great Bend Middle School
The school board also recognized employee milestones. Great Bend High School math instructor Tina Hiss was recognized for 45 years of employment and GBHS Principal Tim Friess was recognized for 40 years. Both are retiring at the end of the school year.
Hiss commented that school board president Jacquie Disque was one of her students.
The Milestone Program is based on five-year increments, recognizing years of service of licensed and classified employees. Employees reaching milestones receive a token of appreciation from the district for their longevity and commitment. The Board of Education recognized employee milestones beginning at 20 years of service. Superintendent Khris Thexton said the 110 employees recognized represented a combined 1,397 years of service. “That says a lot about our district.” Thexton himself was recognized for 10 years with the district.
For those retiring, Thexton said, “I want to wish them the best.” For others, he said he is “looking forward to many more years.” Milestones were:
35 years - Tammy Ensley, GBMS secretary
30 years - Amy Karst, Riley teacher; Connie Mauck, paraprofessional at Helping Hands; Jason Perry, teacher at GBMS
25 years - Kelly Brack, teacher at GBMS; Debra Clarke, paraprofessional at Lincoln; Michelle Daniel, family & student advocate at Riley; Linda Johnson, nurse at GBMS; Karl McCulley, teacher at GBMS; Jerrie Mull, paraprofessional at GBHS; Carol Schugart-Pfannenstiel, teacher at GBHS; Debra Stansfield, library aide at Eisenhower; Lynnette Stos, teacher at GBMS; Joni Wintholz, teacher assistant at Eisenhower.
20 years - Margaret Balderrama, Mary Bieker, Dirk Davis, Virginia Debes, Janet Degenhardt, Casey Gatton, Shari Karst, Angelo Ledesma, Nickole Ochs, Sandy Showalter, Travis Straub, Traci Suppes, Brenda Unrein, Angela Wiehl, Teri Williams.
15 years - Deborah Amador, Suzanne Bussen, Julie Buzard, Deborah Hinds, Tandi Mai, Cathie McManaman, Leann Miller, Carrie Minton, John Popp, Amber Snook, Michael Stettinger, Carley Wells.
10 years - Cecilia Arias, Margarita Ayala, Natalie DeForest, Anna Freund-Loera, Natasha Hardcastle, Cassey Hatzenbuehler, Ronald Hayes, Sally Jensen, Holly Johnson, Wendy Popp, Elisa Lopez-Ruiz, Chelsea Mauler, Lori McLeland, Anne Paden, Petra Quintana, Meredith Ramsey, Amber Shattuck, Beth Wissing, Judith Sneath, Khris Thexton.
5 years - Desteny Alcala, Jose Arias, Matthew Barton, Andrea Bauer, Cynthia Beck, Lindsay Behnke, Kristine Boepple, Traci Burns, Cody Cale, Edythe Calvert, Tammy Cline, Tina Curran, Travis Daniels, Jessica Delgado, Maggie Delzeit, Sharon Denney, Jason Duvall, Shelly Duvall, Audra Ensley, Amy Gilkison, Angela Gonzalez, Amanda Gotts, Haley Guesnier, Amy Harris, Rachel Harris, Tiffany Heape, Lucina Hernandez, Sonia Garcia, Morgan King, Katherine Knoles, Jodie Kuhn, Sanjuana Lomas, Stephanie Lomas, Kalee Maneth, David McGuire, Megan McGuire, Jacqueline Noel, Maria Pasos, Hooter Perez, Brandy Proffitt, Ashley Reed, Andrea Sayler-Siefkes, Robin Shorb, Amy Stein, Kaitlynn Tuey, Jennifer Turner, Jade Wilson.
